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Holocaust; Rabbi David Saperstein, 72, president of the World Union for Progressive Judaism, who served as U.S. ambassador for International Religious Freedom during the Obama administration after stepping down as long-time director of the Reform movement’s Religious Action Center; and John Ruskay, who served as a commissioner of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom after 15 years as executive vice president of UJAFederation of New York. All are men, because until recent decades, few women held such
long-time, senior leadership positions in major national or local Jewish organizations. These not-quite-retired men offer an alternative vision of post-career life, opting for full-time work instead of traveling, studying or doing volunteer work. Unlike many men and women of retirement age, they find that their previous high-profile jobs led to more offers for desirable working opportunities when they decide to leave those earlier jobs. For these retirees who are still in good health, there won’t be any golden years spent relaxing in Flor-
Retirement Living ■ The Jewish Week & NJJN ■ April 2020
RETIREMENT
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Rabbi Peter Rubinstein shifted gears after 25 years as the spiritual leader of Central Synagogue in Manhattan to take the helm at the 92Y’s Jewish Community and Bronfman Center for Jewish Life. “I wanted to keep serving the Jewish people,” he says. J EWI SH WEEK
‘I Don’t Play Golf’
For some ‘retired’ high-profile Jewish leaders, there are indeed second acts. Steve Lipman Staff Writer
R
abbi Peter Rubinstein was in his office at the 92nd Street Y one recent morning, planning some upcoming educational programs he leads as director of the institution’s Jewish Community and Bronfman Center for Jewish Life. It was a typical day for the rabbi — except that he was among a few Y employees at work there that day, as the institution was closed because of coronavirus, and most staffers were working at home. And the rabbi is retired, a word he dislikes. “I graduated” — to another challenging job — says Rabbi Rubinstein, who stepped down from his senior pulpit post at Midtown’s prestigious Central Synagogue in 2014, at 71, after nearly 25 years there. After just a few months off, he took the position at the Y in part to beef up the institution’s Jewish offerings. Though he still serves in an emeritus position at Central Synagogue, delivering an occasional sermon and officiating at life cycle events for con-
gregants with whom he established a close relationship, he now works a full schedule at the Y, teaching and designing new classes and using the skills and contacts he developed in his earlier jobs. At Central Synagogue, he was in essence “the chief of staff. Here I’m not — which is fine.” Now he’s not responsible for handling every emergency that happens among other staff members or congregants. Now, he says, he can devote his time to education, not administrative duties. Rabbi Rubinstein is among a handful of leaders of prominent Jewish organizations who, as they reached traditional retirement age, transitioned to equally prominent and equally rigorous jobs. In that elite group are Michael Schneider, the South African-born former executive vice president of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee who became secretary general of the World Jewish Congress; Abraham Foxman, who, after retiring in 2015 as the long-time national director of the Anti-Defamation League at 75, became head of the Center for the Study of AntiSemitism at the Museum of Jewish Heritage-A Living Memorial to the
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